Cochlear implant in Hong Kong Cantonese.
Cochlear implant surgery was performed in four Cantonese-speaking postlingually deaf Chinese adults, using the House/3M single channel device. This article outlines the methodology, including preoperative assessment and postoperative rehabilitation; and explains the necessary modifications in speech and audiologic work-up in Cantonese-speaking patients. Salient features of Cantonese phonetics, especially its tonal characteristics, are described. The findings of the study are presented. The results of the cochlear implant would suggest a performance superior to that of the hearing aid. Furthermore, the cochlear implant is able to detect tonal cues. This quality of the cochlear implant may prove to be a valuable asset to a tonal language-speaking cochlear implantee.
Tang
S O
SO
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
Luk
W S
WS
Lau
C C
CC
So
K W
KW
Wong
C M
CM
Yiu
M L
ML
Kwok
C L
CL
D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests; D013065:Speech Intelligibility